In the S-T article on Mark Teixeira winning his first gold glove, Jon Daniels confirms that he plans on talking to Teixeira's agent, Scott Boras, about a contract extension this offseason:
"Scott and I have actually been talking phone tag the last day or two," Daniels said. "We'll have those conversations [about a contract]. I don't know what the outcome will be."
Not exactly the sort of thing that fills you with confidence about the chances of a deal getting done, but we'll see...
Daniels also confirmed that the Rangers have talked to A.J. Burnett's agent, but T.R. Sullivan says that Burnett may be out of the Rangers' price range. I'd like to know if, by "out of the Rangers' price range," he means that Burnett would cost more than the Rangers think he's worth, or more than the Rangers can afford to pay with their budget -- there's a significant difference there.
Meanwhile, in a column for USA Today on the young new general managers, Jon Saraceno has this to say about Jon Daniels:
Last month, Texas hired Jon Daniels, 28, to be GM. Manager Buck Showalter is his new puppet master.
Again, that seems to be the perception among the national media...that Daniels is just a guy who is there to negotiate contracts and do what Buck Showalter wants done. Given the dynamics and Buck's history, that's understandable. Until Daniels establishes a track record that shows otherwise, I don't expect those beliefs to change...